August 12
Choosing a University in the U.S.: Minnesota
Today on our tour of U.S. States: Minnesota! The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes!
One of Minnesota's Ten Thousand Lakes
Activities
If you’ve been reading this series at all, by now you know that in many states, the primary activities involve the Great Outdoors. Well, guess what? The same is true of Minnesota, and not only because it has ten thousand lakes. There’s great hiking, fishing, canoeing and hunting throughout the state. But don’t forget about Minneapolis and Saint-Paul, two very developed cities that have all the amenities you can expect from big urban areas. In particular, Minnesota has a very lively, laid-back arts scene with lots of great museums and galleries – to say nothing of coffee shops and bars with live music.
One of Minnesota's many museums
Extracurricular activities
You can find a ton of clubs that take advantage of Minnesota’s wonderful natural beauty. You’ll also find many clubs that are focused on the arts, or on exploring the nooks and crannies of Minnesota’s creative and unique culture. And you can expect some clubs that explore the bright side of cold winters, such as clubs for ice fishing, hockey, etc.
Social Activities
Universities in Minnesota will tend to have a more laid back, “cool” social scene – less large, loud parties (although those exist) and more small, fairly intimate engagements. There is a lot to do in Minnesota, and universities tend to be fairly well situated within communities, so there is a lot of emphasis on going outside of the dorms (or the bars) and doing something. Wroth noting here: you can’t be in a Minnesota town or city for more than three minutes without finding a really cool place – a cafe, a coffee shop, something – to hang out in.
Tourist Sites
There are a ton of festivals and events going on in Minnesota, seemingly at all times of the year. They are often quirky (example: races with boats made from old milk cartons), but there are a lot of them and the atmosphere at such events is generally festive. The Saint Paul-Minneapolis area (known as “The Twin Cities”) is very beautiful and has tons of things to see and do. Besides that, there is the aforementioned nature in Minnesota. There really are 10,000 lakes – or it as least seems like there are. And don’t forget the shore of Lake Superior, which provides something like an oceanfront – including lighthouses!
Weather
OK, some bad news here. Minnesota experiences extremes in temperature – very, very hot summers and very, very cold winters. Minnesota also gets just about every kind of bizarre, extreme weather – heavy rain, hail, snow, blizzards, tornadoes, thunderstorms, etc. Now, for those of us who like to experience different weather, this variety is a good thing – but if you’re looking for a more constant climate, you may want to look elsewhere.
If you’re interested in more weather data about Minnesota than you could possible imagine, or if you just want to know how much rain fell in St. Paul on October 12, 1965, go to this site (and bring your calculators).
Cost of Living
The cost of living in St. Paul – Minneapolis, Minnesota is 39.7% less than in New York; but salaries are only 9.9% less than in New York. (Note to self: move to Minnesota).
Source is here.
Notable Universities
Holy Toledo! Or should I say, Holy Duluth! Minnesota has a lot of universities. And here’s a list of them!
Posts in this Series
- Choosing a University in the U.S.: North Dakota - 12 Sep
- Choosing a University in the U.S.: Minnesota (This post)
- Choosing a University in the U.S.: Alaska - 31 Jul
- Choosing a University in the U.S.: Utah - 24 Jul
- Choosing a University in the U.S.: Colorado - 21 Jul
- New myUface Guide and New Series - 20 Jul
August 27th, 2009 at 3:41 am
Hi, My name is Azimjon, i am from uzbekistan, can you give me more inforamtion about interships or grants?
Thnaks in advance
September 8th, 2009 at 2:06 am
Hi Azimjon,
I would recommend that you check out our series of posts about financial aid, which you can find here:
http://www.myuface.com/blog/2009/06/08/finding-financial-aid-for-your-us-education
If you have any specific comments or questions after that, please post them and we will do our best to respond.
Good luck on finding something!